Kennedy: Passat's killer app is diesel

There was a time in the mid-1990s when almost every big newspaper in America with a travel section did a story about Chattanooga.

The headline was always something like this: Dirty little post-industrial city rises from the ashes.

I had a flashback last week reading all the reports from the Detroit auto show about the new, 2012 Volkswagen Passat sedan to be assembled here. (Please see a special, 48-page VW section in today's newspaper.)

Almost every article mentioned Chattanooga as the city Volkswagen has chosen for its $1 billion gambit to get a better foothold in the American auto market. As residents of the city, it's hard for us not to feel flattered by all the media coverage.

At the same time, I sense that some people in the Chattanooga area are a little perplexed that reaction to the car's Detroit unveiling has been mixed.

Some gentle advice: Get used to it. The automobile business is a pure meritocracy. Every great car on the road today is an evolutionary product built on relentless scrutiny from automotive journalists. Nothing personal. It's why cars are infinitely better today than they were 20 years ago. If all products got the same treatment, we'd be living in a consumers' paradise.

The Passat is a family sedan, not a flashy concept car built to dazzle car-show audiences. Ultimately, sales will rise or fall based on variables such as value, safety, styling, comfort and performance.

In the meantime, you can bet VW leaders and listening and learning from the early reviews of the car. Here are some of the clouds raised by automotive journalists this week about the new Passat and some observations (possible silver linings) from me.

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The cloud: "The $20,000 car's exterior underwent only the lightest of evolutions, while inheriting none of the starchitect panache of [VW's] upmarket variant, the Passat CC."

- The New York Times

The silver lining: Called conservative and dull by some journalists, to me the new Passat design is clean and crisp. All modern VWs have a solid, sculpted-from-one-piece look. I expect the new, buttoned-down design will age well. (Remember, somebody once thought fins looked good on cars.)

The CC, on the other hand, is indeed a rolling work of art. Still, its sleek architecture only accommodates four passengers, which makes it ill-suited for most Americans in the market for family transportation.

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The cloud: "The Passat is following in the footsteps of the 2011 Jetta sedan, which uses cheaper interior materials and an older, less sophisticated and less powerful engine design to meet a lower price point."

- Consumer Reports

The silver lining: This one is easy. VW is positioning the Passat as an example of "accessible German engineering." By compromising on interior plastics and engine components, the company is slashing the base price of the car about 25 percent. Americans love a sale. So far, the cost-cutting strategy is boosting sales of the Jetta. Expect the same with the new Passat.

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The cloud: "Few models are instant successes in their first generation, analysts say. VW also is producing the Passat at a plant that is manufacturing cars for the first time."

- Wall Street Journal

The silver lining: Of all the clouds over the new Passat, the question of product reliability is the most ominous. The company is saying all the right things about setting the reset button on quality. Still its devilishly difficult to build a new car, in a new plant, in a new country, with new workers.

This is where the work ethic - and pride - of Chattanooga-area workers is on the line. I'm betting on the home team.

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A final thought: I think Motor Trend magazine is on the mark last week when it noted that the Passat's "killer app" is its available turbo-diesel (TDI) engine.

The powerful, durable powerplant gets 43 miles per gallon of diesel fuel in highway driving. VW expects the more-expensive TDIs to account for about one-third of new Passat sales.

Dream scenario for VW: It's early 2013. Gas is $4 a gallon. Simultaneously, thousands of trend-setting Jetta TDI owners are turning 30, getting married and having babies.

I'll bet somebody inside VW is twirling a pen right now and thinking exactly the same thing.

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